The example of the Korean martyrs, to build a better Church

by Joseph Yun Li-sun

Yesterday the Catholics of the South celebrated the liturgical memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon, the first native priest, and his fellow martyrs . Bishop of Daejeon : "We prayed that their example give rise to a continuous drive to good ."

Seoul (
AsiaNews) - The liturgical memorial of the Korean Martyrs " is always a
big feast for Korean Catholics . We are very proud of their testimony of faith,
and pray with even more intensity in view of the upcoming canonization of the
martyrs of Korea." Fr. Stephen
Kim , a priest of the Archdiocese of Seoul, tells AsiaNews that " the particular birth of the Church of Korea, founded by the
laity, makes us even more connected to the memory of our martyrs ."

Similarly, the Bishop of
Daejeon , Msgr. Lazzaro
You Heung- sik , celebrated a great liturgical function to commemorate St.
Andrew Kim Taegon, the first Korean priest , and his companions who were
martyred in the nineteenth century : "We have prayed that their example give
rise to a continuous drive to good, so that also our contemporary
church can live on their example. "

Andrea
Kim Taegon was born in 1821 into a noble Christian family, growing up in an
milieu bathed in Christian principles. His father had turned their home into a
'house church' that attracted Christians and neophytes seeking baptism alike.
When the authorities discovered him, he refused to give up his faith and died a
martyr's death at the age of 25.

Lay people founded the
Korean Church and still support it. The Christian faith arrived in Korea in the
17th century with foreign delegations that visited Beijing every
year.

However, the new religion
was unfavourably received by the local government, which fiercely persecuted it
for centuries. Today 10 per cent of the population is Catholic, growing each
year in strength.

More than 10,000 Koreans
died as martyrs during the age of persecution. Two groups were beatified in
1925 and then 1968. On 6 May 1984, all 103 of them were canonised by Pope John
Paul II in Seoul. Ten of them were non-Korean (three bishops and seven
priests). All the
others, catechists and believers, were Korean. According to Msgr . You
"this ferocity has pushed our people to respond more vigorously. We have
faced wars and dictatorships in the light of this extraordinary grace. We must
be worthy of it ."